Amplitude Ventures, AltaML pen partnership to build AI, biotech companies

Edmonton-based artificial intelligence (AI) company AltaML and Montréal health-focused Amplitude Ventures want to fuel more Canadian AI and biotech companies.

The two organizations have penned what they call a “strategic alliance” to source investments as well as projects where they can work together.

The partnership follows the more than $200 million close of Amplitude’s precision health fund last year. The fund’s thesis is based on supporting three regions: Toronto, Montréal, and Vancouver (due to various expertise in precision health). However, one of Amplutide’s vertical focuses is AI, and the AltaML partnership allows the venture firm to tap into the notable Alberta AI market.

Hyivy Health secures $1.1 million in pre-seed funding to ease women’s pelvic health problems

Born from its founder’s own experience with cervical cancer, FemTech startup Hyivy Health has secured $1.1 million in pre-seed funding to improve womens’ pelvic health.

Threshold Impact, Beresford Ventures, Equation Angels, Zambon Research Venture, The51, OCI, iGan, and Velocity all participated in the oversubscribed round, along with a number of individual angel investors. The round closed in December.

Hyivy Health is developing the first smart, holistic pelvic health rehabilitation product for the one in three women who will develop pelvic health complications in their lifetime.

Hyivy claims its pelvic health system is the first fully ergonomic, remote monitoring device collecting multiple data sets and connecting patients to their clinicians and pelvic floor therapists virtually.

Vena Medical announces first Health Canada Medical Device License

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Vena Medical recently announced the first Health Canada Medical Device License for their new product, the Vena Balloon Distal Access Catheter™ (BDAC). The Vena BDAC™ combines the balloon guide catheters and distal access catheters that are currently used in thrombectomy to remove clots from the brains of stroke victims.

Combining these two devices allows the clinician to get the balloon much closer to the clot, which is shown to improve key metrics like First Pass Success Rate, allowing removal of the clot on the first try and leading to significantly better patient outcomes. This also reduces the number of devices to treat each patient and therefore the cost of the procedure.

Vena Medical presented at the 2022 OBIO Investment Summit.

Future Fertility Raises Series A to Progress First-In-Class AI-Enabled Fertility Solutions to Improve IVF Outcomes

Future Fertility, a fertility technology company developing AI-enabled and non-invasive fertility solutions to optimize clinical decision making in fertility care and in vitro fertilization (IVF), recently announced that it has successfully raised a Series A financing round. The investment was led by M Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a global fertility leader), with participation from Whitecap Venture Partners.

Specific Biologics Closes Seed Financing with Industry Leaders Lumira Ventures and adMare BioInnovations

Specific Biologics Inc. recently announced that it has closed its first institutional financing, led by Lumira Ventures and adMare BioInnovations which have recently established an innovative partnership to build Canadian life sciences companies.

Gene editing holds the potential to cure a wide range of genetic diseases by altering DNA in the genome inside cells – but today's gene editors have limitations. To better realize the significant opportunity of this therapeutic approach, and allow for its application to new therapeutic areas, Specific Biologics has developed the unique next-generation Dualase™ gene editing platform which can more accurately alter DNA sequences by cutting DNA in two spots as a single molecule. Specific has demonstrated the benefit of this two-site mechanism in proof-of-concept studies in disease-relevant models.

Specific Biologics is an OBIO Member company and a presenting company at the 2022 OBIO Investment Summit.

Perimeter Medical Imaging AI Announces Strategic Private Placement to Social Capital

Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc., a medical technology company driven to transform cancer surgery with ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools to address high unmet medical needs, announced on December 15, that it has entered into a subscription agreement pursuant to which an affiliate of Social Capital Holdings Inc. will make a strategic C$43.4 million investment in the Company.

Perimeter Medical Imaging participated in previous OBIO Investment Summits.

Conavi Medical Enters into Funding Agreements for Over $20 Million to Support Commercialization of its Innovative Intravascular Image Guidance Technology

Conavi Medical Inc., a leader of hybrid imaging guidance for common minimally invasive heart procedures, has entered into agreements for over $20 million in funding to support commercialization and growth as it prepares its innovative Novasight Hybrid® System for market. The company aims to raise an additional $10 million as part of an ongoing financing effort.

Novasight Hybrid System is the first and only clinical system that enables simultaneous and co-registered imaging of coronary arteries with both intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

The Novasight Hybrid System was recently featured as part of a live case performed by New York Presbyterian Hospital and broadcast during the TCT 2021 conference, the world’s premier meeting for interventional cardiovascular medicine.

Conavi is an OBIO® member and participated in previous OBIO Investment Summits.

Whitecap Venture Partners Closes $140 Million Fund V to Invest Across Canada

Whitecap Venture Partners has secured $140 million CAD for its fifth fund, which will invest in early-stage B2B SaaS and medtech startups.

For Whitecap’s previous two funds, the Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firm focused on backing early-stage companies within a short flight of Toronto, like Toronto-based Bolt Logistics and Montréal-based Silofit.

With its new fund, Whitecap plans to bring its Series A-focused approach to the rest of the country, and allocate more capital towards seed-stage rounds as the firm looks to capture more potential investment opportunities.

Like previous vintages, the fund will invest in seven to 10 companies at seed and Series A stages—bucking the trend to go after larger deals—while sharpening its focus on the prop-tech space.

Whitecap Venture Partners is an OBIO® member.

Empower Health Recognized as a Startup Innovator of 2021 by Digital Health Canada

Dr. Ryan Doherty, CEO of EMPOWER Health, has received the 2021 Start-up Innovator of the Year award by Digital Health Canada.

Digital Health Canada's award 'Start-up Innovator of the Year' recognizes up to three Start-Up Innovators who have clearly demonstrated leadership and innovation and whose outstanding contribution has advanced Digital Health or Virtual Health in Canada.

EMPOWER Health has been focused on a mission to build, implement and leverage national digital health infrastructure that addresses gaps in the healthcare system to empower all stakeholders of the healthcare system regardless of barriers (political, operational & financial) put in their way. They have consistently demonstrated foresight that allowed them to cost effectively implement scalable digital health technologies 1-3 years before competitors while also leading and demonstrating product-market fit.

Medicago COVID-19 Vaccine Data Bolster Hopes for a Canadian Shot

A vaccine developed by Quebec-based Medicago Inc. has shown greater than 70-per-cent efficacy against a range of COVID-19 variants in a large-scale clinical trial, the company recently said.

The outcome bolsters Medicago’s bid to become the first COVID-19 vaccine maker in Canada to get a product to market for use either as a booster shot or as a first vaccine in places that remain critically unprotected from the disease.

Calian, L-SPARK Launch Accelerator Program to Advance Digital Health Technology Innovation

Calian Group Ltd., a diverse products and services company providing innovative solutions for the healthcare, communications, learning and security sectors and L-SPARK, Canada’s largest software-as-a-service accelerator, announce the launch of their joint accelerator program, which aims to grow Canadian technology companies in the rapidly expanding area of digital health.

The partnership will help small and medium-sized technology enterprises (SMEs) grow their businesses and bring new products to market by integrating with the Calian digital health platform as a service (PaaS) solution. Doing so will enable value-added functionality across the care continuum. Chosen companies will also gain access to Calian sales and distribution channels and extensive customer base. Ideal participants are Canadian companies focused on areas such as care team collaboration, education content and patient engagement, remote monitoring, and medication management.

Award-Winning Author Dan Breznitz Wins Balsillie Prize for Public Policy

The Writers’ Trust of Canada has named award-winning author Dan Breznitz the inaugural winner of the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.

The Balsillie Prize is awarded for a book of non-fiction that advances and influences policy debates on a wide range of social, political, economic, or cultural topics relevant to Canadians.

Dan Breznitz received this honour for Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, published by Oxford University Press. The book examines how policy makers prioritize invention over innovation to the detriment of their communities.

OBIO® was recently honoured to host Dan Breznitz as the keynote speaker at its 2021 Annual Public Meeting where he addressed some of the most compelling and thoughtful topics in his book. OBIO congratulates Dan on this outstanding achievement!

Treadwell Therapeutics Announces The Closing of a $91 Million Series B Financing

Treadwell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, cross-modality medicines for unmet needs in cancer, announced on November 18 the closing of an oversubscribed Series B financing, which raised more than $91 million.

Proceeds will fund the continued clinical development of CFI-400945, CFI-402257 and CFI-402411, the preclinical development of the Biologics and Cell Therapy platform. Financing led by Sino Biopharmaceutical and 3W Fund and includes other healthcare focused funds.

Treadwell Therapeutics presented at the 2021 OBIO Investment Summit.

Highmark Interactive Inc. Begins trading on the TSX Venture Exchange

Highmark Interactive Inc. recently announced approval for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) under the symbol HMRK. The listing follows the closing of the Company’s previously announced qualifying transaction, consisting of the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding securities in the capital of Highmark Innovations Inc. as well as the concurrent closing of the acquisitions of Complex Injury Rehab Inc. and Highmark Health Mississauga.

By fusing proprietary, digital clinical decision support technology with virtual and traditional models of health service, Highmark is committed to delivering better outcomes for people struggling with their brain or mental health.

In June 2021, Highmark Interactive had acquired BrainFx, a former OBIO® CAAP and MINT company.

Deep-learning Technology Allows Toronto-based Biotech Firm Cyclica to Help With Drug Discovery in Record Time

On January 27, 2020, there were still fewer than 1,000 confirmed reported cases of SARS-COV2 in the world. Within a week, the leadership team of Cyclica—a data-driven, drug discovery biotech company based in Toronto—met with China’s Institute of Materia Medica about sharing their AI-enabled polypharmacology platform to begin isolating potential therapies through machine learning. 

For the past eight years, Cyclica has been working on the cutting edge of a new kind of research that uses computational techniques including AI to analyze the human proteome alongside various molecules and chemical compounds that can make up new drugs. The technology was initially developed to help track and reduce potential side effects from new medicines, and speed their development and time to market.

In the case of COVID-19 applications, researchers at Cyclica, along with those using Polypharm DB, could put the same techniques to work in order to more quickly identify potential therapies for this new coronavirus.

Huron Digital Pathology Invests to Expand Its Manufacturing Capacity as Part of the Province’s Investment to Boost Local Economy in Waterloo Region

Huron Digital Pathology, a medical device technology company located in rural St. Jacob’s Ontario, is investing nearly $4.7 million to expand its manufacturing capacity to meet global demand for its new TissueScope iQ digital pathology scanner. With $500,000 in support from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, the company will create five jobs and retain 22 positions. Hospitals and research centres worldwide use this scanner to digitize glass biopsy slides for disease diagnosis and advancing cancer research. The project will increase Huron’s production efficiencies and innovation and open new opportunities to access global markets.

Huron Digital Pathology is an OBIO® member.

Vasomune Announces Government Financial Support for the Development of COVID-19 Therapeutic

Vasomune Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of diseases associated with vascular dysfunction, announced, on November 8, it has received a Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) Clinical Trial Award (CTA) grant for US $6.4 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

In addition, the company is receiving advisory services and research and development funding of up to $2.8 Million from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).

Financial support will enable Vasomune to accelerate clinical development of AV-001 for the Treatment of Patients with Severe COVID-19 Disease and COVID-associated ARDS.

Vasomune in an OBIO® member.

KixCare Raises $2M Seed Round to Revolutionize Canadian Pediatric Care

KixCare, the virtual healthcare platform revolutionizing pediatric care, recently announced its successful raise of $2 million in seed funding.

Esplanade Ventures, Canada's leading digital health venture capital firm, led the round, with participation from Horizon Capital and notable angel investors.

KixCare's virtual healthcare platform provides a simple, accessible solution for many of the challenges present in children's healthcare today. Many families are unable to find a pediatrician who can accommodate their needs, particularly when seeking urgent care. Existing traditional and digital healthcare options often fail to provide accessible, online pediatric care from experts.

KixCare gives families secure, virtual consultations with pediatricians, who receive real-time patient information to aid their diagnosis. 

Trillium Securityholders Approve Acquisition by Pfizer

Trillium Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, announced on October 26, that its securityholders approved a statutory arrangement with PF Argentum ULC a wholly-owned, indirect subsidiary of Pfizer Inc. at the special meeting of Trillium securityholders. Pursuant to the arrangement, PF Argentum will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares and warrants of Trillium, other than Trillium securities owned by Pfizer and its affiliates.

EmergConnect Raises $350,000 to Fund Emergency Room Wait Time Predictor

EmergeConnect, a startup based in Waterloo, has raised $350,000 CAD in what the company classified as an all-equity, SAFE, pre-seed investment round that closed in September.

The financing was led by Loyal VC, a global startup index fund, and saw participation from Maple Leaf Angels and Front Row Ventures.

With its mission to “revolutionize emergency care,” EmergConnect offers a mobile platform that allows patients to register, triage, and get an individualized prediction of their wait time in emergency rooms (ERs). The app can be accessed by patients at home, in the ER, or in a virtual care setting.

EmergeConnect in an OBIO® member.